As the Muslim chief and I stood beside my white Toyota wagon, the traditional African gestures and greetings were exchanged. The scorching Saharan sun was beating down on all of us. Men greeted the chief and then turned to me. All of us were shaking hands and gesturing to our own hearts and foreheads showing that no ill will or thoughts stood between us.
Both in evangelistic outreach and in church development, varying manifestations of the arts have taken center stage in a number of contexts.
From drama in local churches to images of Jesus in paintings and sculptures, from music reflecting God’s glory in local idioms to films about Jesus, artistic expression spans a spectrum of ideas, materials, media and imagery that helps Christians of all cultures think more clearly about Christ.
Since David Hesselgrave has publicly taken issue with the book written by Jim Engel and myself, I have been invited to write a response.
Visual art can be very useful in supporting oral communication. This is particularly the case when communicating with people who are predominantly oral-aural communicators.
I had expected the physical poverty of eastern Europe to be accompanied by artistic and spiritual poverty. I found just the opposite to be true.
Seven ingredients that I discovered to be present in every successful TEE program that I researched in southern Africa.
As a deputation survivor still on reasonable speaking terms with both supporting churches and family members, let me pass along a few of the survival tactics that have helped smooth our miles on the road.
As much as missions partners know that organizational capacity is key to sustainable ministry, they'll also quickly admit they are ill-prepared to build it.
A pastor from the US, just last year, was invited to speak at a weeklong Christian conference in Malawi. The music that preceded his message horrified him.
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